Barbara Yung: Legend of Burlesque

Belated congratulations to Barbara Yung on her recent induction into the Burlesque Hall of Fame. During the late 1940s, Barbara was one of the reigning queens of the Bay Area's Chinese nightclub scene. Last month in Las Vegas she graced the stage once again to accept the 2011 Legend of Burlesque Award.

I've been unable to discover much about her career, but evidently Barbara started dancing in San Francisco in the early 40s. By 1949 she was headlining the "Chinese Girls-a-Peekin'" Revue at Fong Wan's Club Oakland and the "China Darlings of 1950" Revue the following year at Fong's Club Shanghai across the bay. In 1952, she was back in Oakland at the legendary El Rey, where she starred in "Chinatown after Midnite". And according to IMDB, Barbara even made an appearance, along with Chinese Skyroom owner Andy Wong, in the Frank Sinatra film Pal Joey (1957). Unfortunately, when I watched the film on DVD, both of them were nowhere to be seen.

I did manage to find a couple of choice tidbits about Barbara in the Oakland Tribune's nightlife gossip column "Going Places" that at least give us a little taste of what her performances were like.

"Barbara looks very much like something you might see in Terry and the Pirates. Tall, shapely as a Varga girl, and dances beautifully to music like "Rhapsody in Blue" and other intricate symphonic arrangements." (June 11, 1949)

"Barbara Yung is one of the cleverest tall, willowy dancers in show business today. Quite rare to see a Chinese girl with her elevation. Her routines these eves at Fong Wan's Club Oakland are sophisticated yet quite artistic." (June 25, 1949)

It was also noted in "Going Places" that Barbara made her own costumes and was "something of an outstanding couturier when it comes to sequin needlework" (October 15, 1949). Go ahead and click on her glamor shot at the top of this post for a closer look at how amazing she was with a needle.

It's heartening to see Barbara honored in her lifetime as one of burlesque's trailblazers, alongside such luminaries as Josephine Baker, Sally Rand, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Tempest Storm. At the age of 92 Barbara Yung still bedazzles (that's her in the photo on the right with contemporary burlesquer Shanghai Pearl) and reminds us to forge our own paths with courage, passion, and style!

A great big thanks to Shanghai Pearl for the photos. The Club Oakland ad comes from the August 20, 1949 edition of the Oakland Tribune.